Pop quiz: what Wiscasset based company is a global leader in a polymer product used extensively throughout the world? The answer is Rynel, the leading manufacturer of specialty hydrophilic polyurethane foams for medical, consumer, and personal care.
Dr. Winslow Sargeant, Chief Counsel for the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, recently visited the company, which employs roughly 80 people at their headquarters, across from the Maine Yankee entrance. Sargeant was in Maine to speak at the Manufacturers Association of Maine Conference on May 5 and toured Rynel as part of an effort to address regulation concerns from small Maine manufacturers. Sargeant, who meets with President Barack Obama directly, described his job as being a true advocate for small businesses.
“We do not represent the administration, we represent small businesses,” said Sargeant during a meeting with Rynel officials May 5. “It’s a unique office at the executive branch level. The need comes from the fact small businesses do not have the ability, or capital, to be heard at all levels. These people wear many hats and don’t always have time to read the federal register”
According to Sargeant, the agency gained new political traction in 1980 with the signing of the Regulatory Flexibility Act or RFA, a piece of legislation Rynel Site Director Jim Detert called, in jest, an “oxymoron.”
“We do work with the Small Business Administration but we have the ability to work across all levels,” said Sargeant. “I’m here so you know that we work on your behalf.”
According to Detert, Rynel was started in 1973 as a capital equipment design company. In the early 1980s, the company was drawn into product making and came up with a unique way to make a prepolymer. The foam, which feels to the touch like a combination mouse pad and an adhesive bandage, has proven to be a lucrative niche for Rynel.
“The good news is that we’re the world’s largest supplier of hydrophilic polyurethane foams,” said Detert. “The bad news is that it’s a really little niche.”
The main market for Rynel is today is in wound care where the soft foam is helping people with such ailments as diabetic ulcers.
“People like the way it feels,” Detert said.
Both Detert and Rynel Manufacturing Manager Joe Giampetro said Maine was chosen as the headquarters because of the quality of life. The company also has another concern in Boothbay, Biovation, which manufactures non-woven fiber from a melt spun product line. While Detert said Maines tough environmental regulations can make it difficult for small manufacturers, he insists that it’s been a positive experience.
“There is sometimes a perception that manufacturing are anti-environment,” he told Sargeant. “We have children too and hunt, fish and spend time outdoors.”
Rynel recently finalized plans to move into part of the recently decommissioned Brunswick Naval Air Station, an expansion that is tentatively slated to start in 2012. The move will add up to 80 jobs in the midcoast, said Detert, good news for an economy still adjusting to the financial collapse of 2008.
“We’ve doubled the workforce here in 14 years,” he said. “We’re not production personnel intensive but it takes a lot of support staff.”
Sargeant, who toured two additional manufacturing operations during his visit, said that innovation comes through tinkering, an anecdotal method of discovery that can be thwarted by companies shifting their production to countries like China.
“Venture capitalists often ask a company, what is your China strategy?” said Sargeant. “This can make true innovation difficult as you move away from the hands on engineering aspect.”
Rynel, who has made a home here in Maine despite obstacles both geographic and political, has no plans of relocating in the near future. For now, the company continues with its small but global approach.
“The only way to grow is through innovation,” said Detert. “Pure and simple.”
